After Tuesday, Mississippi State now tied for nation’s largest 2015 class

Eight commitments by mid February? One could argue Mississippi State is now a third of the way done with its 2015 class, and it still has an entire year to go.

On Tuesday, the Bulldogs tied Clemson for the nation’s largest 2015 class when 6-foot-1, 170-pound cornerback Chris Stamps came on board. The Bulldogs have been busy of late with Stamps being the third pickup since they held their junior day this past weekend. Stamps picked up a scholarship offer when he attended.

Prior to the Bulldogs’ offer, he held only an offer from Louisiana Tech, though things have heated up some lately for the corner.

congrats to Miss-St., question though, how do you think different teams balance a big class in years to come. For example, if you commit 30 of your 85 scholarship in 2014, 30 in 2015, then 25 in 2016, a program could have zero available in 2017?

Rriffe, you open an important door with this comment. Have you read any data on this? i.e. media seem to mention transfers more than they used to. i.e.. there is some media jabber about letting kids transfer without penalties. At one time a very high percentage of college freshmen left that institution, I wonder what that % is today (Chronicle of Higer Education) and i’m pretty sure that NCAA athletes are only slightly better than all the others. (NCAA News) Another interesting question is how many stay enrolled but lose their athletic grant-in-aid? I think there is a lot to discuss here… Hey Brian, bring us up to date on this, it’s been a long time since I’ve read the dirt on this.

Good discussion topic. However, I was more referring to being able to keep kids committed that commit this early. In some cases when they have great senior years they draw more attention and can end up getting flipped when what they consider better options come along. I know it’s part of the game but to have a kid commit this early only to see him flip at the end is disheartening. And, I could swallow it better if they don’t talk the “i’m 100% committed” talk only to flip at the first team that comes along and offers two weeks before signing. A perfect example for State last year was Chris Jones who when Mullen offered him was at best a 1 star prospect who blew up his senior year and really didn’t get any offers until he tore it up at a all star game in Florida. Ole Miss comes in at the last minute and offers and to his credit he did keep his commitment. It just seems like we lose one every year to someone when they committed to us early. It makes you think that some take the early offer knowing full well that it puts them on the radar and they know they can flip when another option they might like better comes along. Just seems disingenuous to me. Perfect example this year: Rawlings.

congrats to Miss-St., question though, how do you think different teams balance a big class in years to come. For example, if you commit 30 of your 85 scholarship in 2014, 30 in 2015, then 25 in 2016, a program could have zero available in 2017?

Rriffe, you open an important door with this comment. Have you read any data on this? i.e. media seem to mention transfers more than they used to. i.e.. there is some media jabber about letting kids transfer without penalties. At one time a very high percentage of college freshmen left that institution, I wonder what that % is today (Chronicle of Higer Education) and i’m pretty sure that NCAA athletes are only slightly better than all the others. (NCAA News) Another interesting question is how many stay enrolled but lose their athletic grant-in-aid? I think there is a lot to discuss here… Hey Brian, bring us up to date on this, it’s been a long time since I’ve read the dirt on this.

Good discussion topic. However, I was more referring to being able to keep kids committed that commit this early. In some cases when they have great senior years they draw more attention and can end up getting flipped when what they consider better options come along. I know it’s part of the game but to have a kid commit this early only to see him flip at the end is disheartening. And, I could swallow it better if they don’t talk the “i’m 100% committed” talk only to flip at the first team that comes along and offers two weeks before signing. A perfect example for State last year was Chris Jones who when Mullen offered him was at best a 1 star prospect who blew up his senior year and really didn’t get any offers until he tore it up at a all star game in Florida. Ole Miss comes in at the last minute and offers and to his credit he did keep his commitment. It just seems like we lose one every year to someone when they committed to us early. It makes you think that some take the early offer knowing full well that it puts them on the radar and they know they can flip when another option they might like better comes along. Just seems disingenuous to me. Perfect example this year: Rawlings.